The invention relates to novel compounds targeting tumor markers; a method for synthesis of such compound; and use of such compound in treating cancer.
There is a strong need for the development of new anti-cancer therapies, in particular for chemotherapeutic agents that target specifically cancer cells.
Several such therapies rely on immunotoxins, i.e. compounds that are conjugates of toxic drugs to antibody molecules or protein ligands to receptors on human cancer cells. For example, antibodies that attach to cancer cells are used as conjugates with toxins in an attempt to minimize any delivery of the toxin to non-pathogenic cells. Immunotoxins have been developed e.g. by linking tumor-specific antibodies to Ricin, Pseudomonas exotoxin, Diptheria toxin, and Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a).
The described approaches have significant disadvantages, e.g. in terms of unspecific toxicity, low efficacy, and high cost of manufacturing. Consequently, there is a need to provide anti-tumor compounds that are specific for tumor cells and that can be manufactured at lower costs. In particular, there is a need to provide compounds with anti-tumor efficacy and specificity that can be manufactured entirely by chemical synthesis from standard chemical building blocks.
Such synthetic compounds with anti-tumor efficacy and specificity have been described in a general form in WO2008/000517 which is included here as reference. There is a need to further improve such compounds.